


interlude

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: A breakup of sorts I guess, Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Multi, platonic Jug n Bets friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 07:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10157576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: They aren't in love with each other. She just knows how he feels--what it's like to be in love with Archie Andrews.





	

**Author's Note:**

> first and foremost--i'm not a bughead shipper. i have a million reasons why i don't ship it but i won't get into it here. my ideal scenario is that after kissing betty, jug realizes that he was doing it for the wrong reasons, and their friendship develops from there as they try to solve the mystery and figure out their feelings for archie.
> 
> this is just a little hurt/comfort, canon compliant for ep6. hope you like it!

They’re lying on her bed, and it’d feel scandalous if it wasn’t, well, _them_.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

“It’s okay.” Her reply is just as soft. “I get it, kind of.”

“I just thought. It seemed like the right thing to do.”

“Yeah.”

“But it wasn’t.”

“Yeah,” she says again. Her hand finds his slowly but surely, and their fingers entwine. Just like the kiss, there’s no spark, no electricity, no burst of chemistry. There’s no revelation, he’s not suddenly seeing stars or fireworks. Nothing magically makes sense when they touch; if anything, it all just seems murkier, makes less sense than before.

“I’m sorry.” He says it again, because he feels like he should.

“Don’t be.” She grins, but it’s stained with tear tracks on her cheeks. “You’re not a bad kisser, you know.” She finally turns to her side, but Jughead stays flat on his back. “It’s just… it’s better when you kiss someone you actually love.”

“You’re not mad?”

“At you?” She asks, and Jughead nods. “No. Being in love with Archie is kind of a pain. It makes fools of us all, really.” She shrugs and their fingers finally disconnect. “I get it,” she tells him once more. He doesn’t ask how she saw through him so easily—he figures it probably wasn’t all that hard at all, when you know what to look for.

They both fall silent and Jughead can’t help but turn his head toward the window. Archie’s light is off and the curtains are drawn, across the way, but it’s still comforting to look at the paint-chipped window frame.

“So, what’re you gonna do now?” Betty asks in a voice that’s heavy with sleep.

“I dunno.” He tells her, because he doesn’t. Doesn’t have a damn clue.

“We’ll figure it out.” She’s so sure when she tells him this that he’s not sure which part she’s actually talking about. Whether it’s his crush on Archie, or the stuff with Polly, Jason’s murder, or something else.

“What a mess.”

She laughs. “We’ll figure it out.”

He’s not sure he believes her quite yet, but thinks he might in time.


End file.
